


space enough to grow

by Suicix



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Community: femslashficlets, F/F, Female Friendship, Fluff, Pre-Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 12:39:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7715215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suicix/pseuds/Suicix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Sasha had thought she’d be ready to leave for the hotel by now, but instead, she’s here with Bayley and a couple of bags of ice, Bayley insistent that they both need to take some time to recuperate after their match. Bayley’s just – she’s hard to say no to, is what it is.</i>
</p>
<p>Written for <a href="http://femslashficlets.dreamwidth.org/99532.html">Challenge #071</a> - "tender" - at Femslash Ficlets on Dreamwidth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	space enough to grow

**Author's Note:**

> set post-battleground 2016.

Sasha had thought she’d be ready to leave for the hotel by now, but instead, she’s here with Bayley and a couple of bags of ice, Bayley insistent that they both need to take some time to recuperate after their match. Bayley’s just – she’s hard to say no to, is what it is.

“We did good tonight,” says Sasha, stretching out a now bare leg across the bench. She still aches from being in the ring, her knees sore and her skin tender.

From on the other end of the bench, Bayley looks across at her and smiles, wide.

“We did, didn’t we?” she says. “Really showed Charlotte and Dana who’s boss, huh?”

“We sure did,” Sasha tells her. She winces when Bayley presses one of the ice bags against her leg. It’s helping, but it’s still _cold_. “That’ll get me a title shot tomorrow.”

“You deserve it.” Bayley nods, fierce. “I never wanted to have to say this, but Charlotte’s been the _worst_ since she won the title. That’s not the kind of champion we should have. We should have a champion like… someone like _you_.”

Sasha decides not to mention that she’s had times when she could also be described as _the worst_ , that she along with Charlotte and Summer once – well. Once _tormented_ Bayley is the only way to put it. _Regret_ usually isn’t part of Sasha’s vocabulary, but she thinks she just _might_ feel guilty about that.

“Thanks for coming up. It really means a lot,” is what she says instead, after a pause long enough to justify not bringing any of that up.

“It means a lot to me, too,” says Bayley. If she’s thinking about their past in any way, she isn’t making it obvious at all. She’s still smiling, still just as peppy as ever, still just trying to ease some of the ache in Sasha’s body out of the goodness of her heart and nothing else.

Bayley’s just so – so _good_ that it’s just about unbelievable. She always wants to see the best in people, not just her friends, not just her opponents, but her _rivals_ , those who try to tear her down. She sees the best in Sasha beyond just her performance in the ring and all the bravado she does her best to play up.

And that’s what warms Sasha’s heart, even with the ice still cold against her skin: Bayley’s belief that she can be a champion for people to believe in, not just for herself, but for others, too – and especially for Bayley.


End file.
